Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876

At approximately 2 p.m. on March 3, 1876, for a period of a couple of minutes, big chunks of fresh red meat three to four inches square fell on a 100 by 50 yard area, near the home of Allen Crouch, near Olympia Springs, in Bath county Kentucky. The "Kentucky Meat Shower", as it came to be known was the cause for serious debate and scientific interest. The story was featured in several major national publications at the time, including the New York Times, and Scientific American.

The meat appeared to be beef, but when two area men (yes this really happened) tasted the meat, they said it was either mutton or venison. Theories on the meat shower where varied, ranging from frog matter blown into the air to "nostoc", a form of vegetable matter. A Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton appeared in Medical Record, stating that he and Dr. J.W.S. Arnold had made a microscopic examination of the material from the Kentucky Meat Shower. They had identified the substance as lung tissue from a human infant or a horse ("the structure of the organ in these two cases being almost identical").

Out of the seven samples that eventually where examined, two were of lung tissue, three were muscle tissue and two were cartilage. The most probable theory for the meat shower was that a large pack of buzzards flew over the area after having eaten what was apparently a couple of freshly dead horses, and when one of them spontaneously disgorged itself, all the others (as apparently is customary amongst buzzards), followed suit.

About Me

Documenting my catch and release river fishing adventures. "Smallmouth in Your Soup" Blog originated as a place to store my fishing adventures and reports for posterity's sake. I am available for consultation on river smallmouth bass knowledge.

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